Receiver headband



March 18,1941. o. KALBlTz RECEIVER HEADBAND Filed Deo. 31, 1938INVENTOR. 07'7'0 KALB/TZ.

BY l

ATTORNEY.

l Patented Mar. is, 1941 RECEIVER. HEAIDBAND PATENT OFFICE GermanyApplication December 31.1938, Serial No. 248,73

In Germany February 22, 1938 3 Claims.

The invention relates to telephone apparatus for xing on the head, e.g., ear-phones, flying helmets, etc. It is often necessary for the userof vsuch a telephone apparatus to free one ear or both from theearphones for a time in orderlto be able to come to some rapidunderstanding with people around about or, in the country, to determinethe direction of va noise, but this is not possible with the earphoneswhich cuts out all extraneous noise when it is clamped on the head ofthe user.

For this purpose according to the invention, earphones are connected inan articulate manner with ear pieces pressing against the ear in orderthat the ear may be uncovered at any time. These arrangements allow in asimple manner a quick uncovering of the ear Without removing the headpiece and rapid replacing of the ear piece in its normal position. Sincein these arrangements the position of the ear piece' with respect to theear of the user is dependent on the position of the telephone on thehead of the user a firm positioning of the earphones on the head of theuser is not interfered with when the ear pieces are articulated. Theinvention can, therefore, be used with special advantage for suchtelephone arrangements which are only held on the head by means of abracket or the like.

In order that the telephone may be fixed in its effective position overthe ear, a holding arrangement in the form of a snap lock is provided sothat light pressure of the ear piece against the ear suiiices to bringit from its ineiective to its eiective position. Equally simple is theopening of the lock which is made easy in that the locking lever engagesover the ear piece, and therefore can be rapidly undone. As comparedwith known arrangements for flying helmets with easily releasableearphones which are held by spring rings or the like on the cap, thepresent construction is a considerable advance since the rapid andcomfortable release of the one or both ears of the user as Well as thereturn of the earphones to vtheir previous position is possible usingknown means.

An embodiment of the invention is described in detail in the drawing ona reduced scale, partially in elevation and partially in section.

The bracket I has at both ends displaceable holders 2 for supporting theear piece. As can be seen more particularly from the sectional view ofthe telephone the telephone capsule 3 is xed on a rubber pad 4 which atthe same time serves to x one of the housings 5 for the capsule 3.'I'his housing is rotatable about a lower projection 6 in combinationwith projection 1 which is also connected with the ear cover'8 of rubberwhich with its back wall rests against the rubber pad 4 and has anopening 9 in its centre for the passage of the sound waves from thetelephone to the ear of the user. The rubber pad l is fixed with theparts attached to it to the ear cover 8 by means of the locking lever l0arranged at the upper part of the housing 5 which is under the controlof a spring Il which engages with its locking end behind the projectionI2 of the ear cover 4. The locking lever I0 engages with its other endso far over the housing 5 that in the closed position of the telephoneinstrument it can be very easily detached by the user. By exerting alight pressure on the lever the lock is released. Since the back wall ofthe rubber pad is formed by the attached housing by the release of thelever I0 a pressure is exerted on the housing and thus effects .a springcontrolled rotation of this housing and the connected parts. In thedrawing these parts are shown by dotted lines in the turned awayposition. 'Ihe ear of the user rests over the opening 9 and the earcover 8 in connection with the outer ear, and the user can now, in spiteof the position of the ear cover on his ears, converse with anyone nearhim, which is not possible when the telephone covers his ear in view ofthe cover 8.

It is equally simple to put the earpiece back in its usual position. Itsuflices for this purpose to press lightly against the housing 5 wherebythe lever I0 is again moved underneath the projection l2 with itslocking end and xed by means of its spring.

In the embodiment both ear pieces are arranged to be rotatable out ofthe way but natural- L 1y it can be arranged that only one of these earpieces can be so moved.

In place of the embodiment shown other articulate connections andmethods oi fixing can be provided for this purpose, and also theinvention can be used with the same advantages ior earphones which aresupported 1n a helmet or the like.

What is claimed is:

l. In an apparatus for securing head phones 'F to the head of a user, apair of resilient ear pads fitting over the ears each having a centralopening, a band for holding said pads against the ears,a pair of earphones pivotally mounted on the lower Side of the pads below theopenings in said pads and rotatable into a position covering the openingin said pads, and a snap locking arrangement for holding the ear phonesin position covering the opening and having the latch of said lockingarrangement operable to automatically release the phones and cause themto rotate away from openings and hang suspended from the ear pieces. l

2. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which 1o the resilient earpieces are compressed when the OTI'O KALBITZ.

